The Harder They Fall
by sheba6086
Summary: Support Stacie fic for winner Kitchycoo. Charlaine Harris owns the characters. AH ... Sookie visits internet pal Pam at her home in Sweden. She's looking to make memories and Pam's brother Eric aims to help her do just that.
1. Chapter 1

**The Harder They Fall**

_Kitchycoo_ won me in the Support Stacie Auction

This story is based on an outline provided by her

and is the direct result of her generosity.

enjoy :)

~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~

x

**Chapter 1**

Sookie sat at the small computer desk in her room and anxiously awaited the opening of the auction. She'd read about previous Support Stacie auctions and when she saw that her favorite author had signed up, she knew she'd have to participate this time.

She refreshed her computer screen. The bidding threads were still not opened. She looked again at the paper where she had figured her bidding budget. She could go to $302, and not a penny more.

Refresh again. There was a bid. The auction had started. Sookie scrolled down to find her favorite author's name, 'VampireMaiden' … no bids yet in her thread. Wow, she had not expected the urge to jump in with a bid to be so strong. But no, she'd read about some of the authors going for hundreds of dollars, so she'd wait. She'd hold off as long as she could.

She shut her computer down to keep it from tempting her and tried to focus on doing her homework. She almost got through it all before she was drawn back to the auction. There was a bid on VampireMaiden's thread. SugarSoSwede had bid $30. The race was on.

For the next two days, Sookie and SugarSoSwede went back and forth in five and ten dollar increments. Sookie saw her $302 budget come and go. As much fun as the auction had been until the end, it was so very disappointing to lose.

That was two years ago. As Sookie thought back on that auction she was filled with happiness because despite having never technically met, SugarSoSwede, now known to her as Pam Northman, was now her best friend. Hardly a day went by when they didn't talk on the internet and at least once a week Pam called and they chatted on the phone like any other teenage girls.

Graduation was over and tomorrow she'd be eighteen and on her way. This was going to be the adventure of a lifetime. She'd been working after school and weekends, plus full time all last summer. She'd diligently saved almost every penny and her parents had even kicked in a few hundred dollars when they finally got over their fear and agreed for her to go. Of course, she'd be legally an adult by the time her flight left, but she was glad they had finally given her their blessing just the same.

She checked her purse again before going to bed. There were her airline tickets. Shreveport to Atlanta to New York to London to Stockholm, tomorrow was gonna be a long day.

But a long day fitted perfectly with the vision in her head. She'd never been out of Louisiana and this time tomorrow she would be on the other side of the world and she would meet her dearest friend. For the next two weeks, she would make memories she would cherish for a lifetime.

~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~

Stockholm was everything she'd dreamed it would be and more. So clean and beautiful, everywhere she turned looked like an illustration from a fairy tale. It was Wonderland and Oz and the realm of Disney princesses all rolled into one.

And the night clubs! Pam had taken her someplace different every night and each one was so different from the last. It hardly seemed possible for so many different places and things to be so happily situated on a few tiny connected islands.

Pam was so unlike anyone in Bon Temps. She was so spoiled and decadent, yet so friendly to Sookie. The few rich people Sookie had ever known had treated her like a social outcast. Sookie was so comfortable here, she didn't think a thing about getting up in the middle of the night to go in search of food when her tummy woke her up.

Sookie tiptoed down the stairs and into the large kitchen. Despite its size, because of how it was positioned, the room got very little natural light. The breakfast nook at the far end was lit by streams of starlight from the clear night sky, but this section of the room was almost frightening it was so dark. An awning prevented all but two tiny slivers of light from peeking in through the window over the sink, just enough to keep you from running into anything.

"Ouch!" Sookie stifled the cry as much as she could. She had run her hip straight into one end of the island in the center of the room. There'd be no getting around a big bruise. Good thing they weren't planning on going swimming while she was here.

She felt her way along the remaining distance to the fridge at the other end of the island and opened the door. Let there be light! She glanced around the kitchen until she saw the light switch across the room. She made a mental note of where it was, then quickly poked around in the fridge and found something to eat. Leftover pea soup should do the trick, quick and simple.

She grabbed the bowl, took a step back and gave the refrigerator door a nudge with her knee. She'd have to put this down on the island, then go over to turn on a light.

She turned and ran smack into -- something. It couldn't have been a wall it was too soft for that, it was –

"Madam Valjean, I presume?" came a beautiful baritone from very close by, in the dark.

Sookie let out a loud squeak and tripped backward. Two hands reached out and caught her, but not the soup she'd just taken from the fridge. It crashed to the floor splashing pea soup and broken glass who knew where.

The disembodied hands steadied her and led her hand to the edge of the island for support. "I'll get the light. Don't move, you don't want to cut your feet on the glass," the voice said.

A few seconds later and Eric was standing before her with an eyebrow raised and the sexiest smirk she'd ever seen. His white dress shirt was now covered with pea soup.

"You're Eric," she stammered breathlessly as he stripped off his stained shirt.

"Yes. So now I know one of us," he countered, wadding the shirt and tossing it onto the island counter. "And you are?"

"You called me Madam Valjean. Why?" she asked, unable to take her eyes off him or make her brain keep up with the conversation. His question was buried behind those six-pack abs, that perfect chest and an almost overwhelming desire to touch him. Unfortunately he moved out of her reach. He went to the sink and returned with two damp towels. He handed one to her. "For your legs." He said before answering her question.

He wiped at his pants as he said, "You were stealing food." He could see she was horrified by his remark and he moved quickly to soften his tone somewhat. "Or at least, that's what it looked like. The lights were off. I heard a noise. I came to investigate and I found a woman standing in the dark, raiding my refrigerator. What was I to think?"

Sookie's look of confusion was, in short order, replaced by offense. "I don't know what you were supposed to think, but not that I was stealing anything." At that very moment, her stomach gave a loud, rolling rumble. Sookie was mortified into silence.

Eric couldn't help but chuckle at the precise timing, if nothing else. "Jean Valjean stole when he was hungry," Eric pointed out with a laugh.

"Oh, you're horrible!" Sookie cried and bolted around the island.

Eric easily caught her with one hand and pulled her back around. "Hey, don't go to bed hungry, just because I was an ass." He gently lifted her up and sat her on the island as she fought back embarrassed tears. "Now don't you go running off. I'm going to get a broom. I'll be right back."

While he was gone, she worked on getting control of her breathing. She'd never seen a man that good looking outside of a magazine before. Sure Pam had shown her pictures, and in the photos he was awfully cute, but she hadn't been prepared for this. Her heart may have actually been beating faster when he got back with the broom than it had been when he'd left her sitting there, sitting there on the counter, where he'd lifted her, as if she was nothing more than a teddy bear. She held back the heavy sigh in her throat for fear he'd hear.

"So," he said as she watched him sweep up the mess on the floor. "Do you plan to tell me your name or do you prefer to remain Pam's current woman of mystery?"

"What? Oh, I'm Sookie Stackhouse and I'm not mysterious at all." Once she started, the words nervously spilled out of her. Her brain begged her mouth to stop, but the train had left the platform. "I'm from Louisiana, in the United States. I'm visiting Europe before I go to college. Well, I guess I'm going to college. I haven't really officially been accepted or even applied yet. I've been talking to Pam online for a long time and we thought it would be fun to meet while I was here. I got here last week and I haven't left."

"Usually Pam doesn't go for girls her own age. You must be special." He went to the sink, rewet a kitchen towel and knelt to wipe the floor where he had swept.

"Huh?" Sookie was clearly confused. "I'm not special. I'm –" Sookie's eyes grew wide as the meaning of what he said began to sink in. "Oh! Oh no, I'm not, I mean Pam and, well I –"

Eric began to laugh. What a lovely sound, Sookie thought.

He stood and put a hand on her knee. "It's OK. I get it. Pam doesn't have many female friends who are just friends."

Sookie could feel herself blushing hard. How unlucky could one girl be? She'd had physical contact with Adonis and what had she done? Well, so far, she'd stumbled into him, ruined his shirt, stared stupidly at him as HE cleaned up the mess and somewhere in the midst of all that, she'd managed to make him think she was a lesbian. Wonderful. Maybe she should kick him in the teeth or insult his mother to cement the image of her in his mind?

Before she could think of something sufficiently stupid to do, he lifted her down from the counter. "I think it's safe now," he said.

When her feet touched the floor, his hands lingered at her sides for a moment as he took in the sight of her. Who was this clumsy little fairy he'd found bobbling around his kitchen?

"Well, obviously you won't be having pea soup. Let me make you a cheese sandwich," he said.

As Eric turned and reached for some bread and cheese, Sookie grabbed his shirt off the counter and walked to the sink.

"So you're a laundress?" he kidded as she rinsed the stain from his shirt.

"Are you a sandwich maker?" she tossed back at him with a smile.

Beautiful, he thought. "Only when I find pretty girls starving in my kitchen."

"Well, I'm only a laundress when I dump food all over strange men in their own homes."

"Fair enough," he conceded.

"Where should I put this?" Sookie asked as she shook the shirt over the sink to get most of the water out of it.

"Leave it in the sink. I'll take it upstairs when I go."

Until she turned to speak, she hadn't realized he'd been staring. She averted her eyes and fidgeted as her mind searched wildly for something appropriate to say or do. He extended a hand and relieved her of that burden.

"Come sit down," he said, leading her to the breakfast nook. He sat the plate holding her sandwich on the table. "Or would you prefer to take your sandwich and eat in the privacy of your room. Based on your earlier comments, I assume Pam has installed you in your own room?"

Sookie giggled and picked up one half of the sandwich. "Yes. I'm alone in a room." She looked at the sandwich in her hand and grinned.

He leaned toward her and whispered, "I promise, I didn't poison it."

"You cut the crust," she said, with her smile broadening by the second. He was everything charming. Even with all of Pam's warnings about how he broke hearts to keep from being bored, she couldn't resist him. He could have asked her to run away with him to Siberia and she would have asked how long she had to pack.

"Shall I make another and leave it on?"

"No, thank you," she said. His hand brushed hers as he grasped the opposite side of the half sandwich she was holding, and a shiver ran up her spine at his touch.

"You're cold," he said and he got up and moved his chair closer to hers.

"No, I'm fine, really," she protested, but it was too late. His chair was next to hers, and he had draped his arm around her. He pulled her close and rubbed her arm as if trying to warm her.

The sexiest man she'd ever seen was sitting half naked next to her and warming her with his body. As if she wasn't on fire already. Her nerves were all dancing on end and threatening to explode. She took a small bite of her sandwich and swallowed hard. Then, so she wouldn't be called upon to speak, she took another bite.

"How is it?" he asked.

"Hmm?"

"The sandwich, do you like it?"

"Mmm," she replied with a shy smile.

"My sandwich making skills have left you speechless," he laughed. "High praise indeed."

Yeah right, she thought, it's the sandwich.

When the sandwich was almost gone she put the tiny remaining piece back on the plate and said, "I should try to get some sleep."

"Of course," he said. He jumped up, replaced his chair and held out a hand to her. "May I see you to your room?"

He walked with her to her door, but when she opened it, he held onto her hand. "Sookie, I know my sister. Even though you've been here a week, I'm sure she's only shown you nightspots. She lives like a vampire. Would you like to see Stockholm in the sunlight? It's quite beautiful."

"I'd love to see it," she said softly.

"Great, tomorrow afternoon, say around one, we could have lunch. If we keep you fed during the day, perhaps you won't need to go bumping around in the night."

"Sure," she answered and went inside her room and closed the door. She fell asleep and dreamed of Eric. Sweden was an extraordinary place.

~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~

Sookie was captivating. Eric found everything about her delightful. As they walked the streets and pathways of Skansen, time and again she stopped to marvel over some common thing, with all the enthusiasm of a child on Christmas morning.

When they reached the man blowing glass, it was her undoing. She was mesmerized. She circled the man and bent low several times, wanting to watch from every conceivable angle. She couldn't take her eyes away as he blew into the long pipe, then teased the molten glass into different shapes.

Eric had never taken such pleasure in watching someone watch someone else. It was as if she was on stage, trying to discover a magician's secrets as he performed his tricks.

How was it this small American creature of only eighteen held his attention so easily? He, one of the best known libertines in Northern Europe was standing in an open air museum, smiling like a drunken fool and unable to think of anything more fascinating than watching a girl watch a man blow glass. It simply wasn't possible.

Don't be ridiculous, he thought. She's only a girl. A cute girl, yeah, but certainly not the cutest girl you've ever had your way with. You need a drink to clear your head.

"Sookie, I'm thirsty. Let's go have a drink."

She hadn't even heard him. The man was somehow persuading a glob of glass to transform into a rose, with layer after layer of delicate petals.

"Sookie!" he said a bit louder.

She raised her head. "Hmm?"

He couldn't help but smile at her, but he pushed his point anyway. "May we have a drink now?"

Sookie looked around as if she had suddenly awakened form a trance. She joined him and they continued walking. "Yes, of course. I'm sorry, I lost track of the time. How long was I standing there gawking at that poor man?" She giggled as she asked.

"No longer than any other five year old, I imagine."

Clearly he was teasing, but his tone had taken on a sharper edge than it had earlier in the day. She must have spent too long staring at the glass blower, she thought. She must have annoyed him.

Well, naturally she annoyed him. No doubt he'd seen that man or one like him, all his life. After all, this was his hometown. She'd have to remember not to dawdle no matter how interesting this place was.

Oh and everything about it was interesting. It was a living, breathing Swedish history lesson, played out in the lives of ordinary Swedes through time. Olden times come to life along lovely garden paths.

They stopped for wine at a small tavern. Eric drank a glass very quickly. He had said he was thirsty, Sookie reminded herself. He ordered himself a second and was visibly more relaxed about it.

As they finished their next round, he gave her a very sexy grin and asked, "Would you like to see the world's largest spindel? The aquarium is very close, we should be able to get there and have time to look around before they close."

Why would they have a spindle on display in an aquarium, she wondered. "Is the park closing soon?" she asked, the disappointment evident in her voice.

"Only the aquarium and monkey house. They close at four."

He handed some money to the woman at the bar, took Sookie's hand and almost pulled her from the place.

"They keep an exhibit of spindles with the fish and monkeys?" she asked as she tried to keep pace with him.

"Spindlar, ja," he laughed.

He had switched to Swedish. This couldn't be good. She had a sinking feeling the world's largest spindle they were going to see wasn't going to look anything at all like the one Sleeping Beauty pricked her finger on in the fairy tale.

"And you accused me of being a five year old," she said with more than a little fear causing her voice to tremble. She held tight to his arm as they walked through the aquarium's extensive spider exhibit.

"Would you like to hold one?"

"I think I'll pass."

"Not a spider wrangler?" he laughed.

"I'm trying to quit," she answered.

Now she was irritated. He didn't like that. Even if he wasn't going to allow himself to fall for her, it was imperative to his vanity that she fall for him.

They exited the building and Eric lifted her up onto the curb. "There, let me see you eye to eye." He was still a good four inches taller than her, but still. "You're having fun today, admit it."

"I confess that -"

His mouth fell on hers, stifling whatever words had been there.

Did she close her eyes? She couldn't tell, the sensations of his kiss were blinding. The softness of his lips, the taste of his tongue, the strength of his arms as he wrapped them around her and kept her upright.

She had forgotten to breathe. When his lips moved along her jaw to just beneath her ear she gasped for air and steadied herself by throwing her hands around his neck.

"What do you confess?" he murmured into her ear, then waited for an answer which didn't come.

"You're not speaking to me now?" he asked when several seconds had passed.

She didn't know what to say, but he was obviously waiting for her to say something. "No one's ever kissed me like that," she whispered and was immediately sorry. What a stupid thing to say, she thought and she could feel herself beginning to blush from the embarrassment.

They were the most enchanting words he'd ever heard. "I want to do so much more than kiss you," he said into her ear. "Say you'll come to the pool house tonight."

Her head was swimming. "But what would Pam think? I –"

"Shhh, promise me you'll think about it then."

"How could I think about anything else?" she said breathlessly.

He smiled and kissed her again, briefly this time.

~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~

"Oh my god! Look at you! You're in love with him already!" Pam wailed.

"I am not!" Sookie protested with a giggle, but she wasn't sure if she was being truthful.

"I should have known better than to let you come here. I should have met you in London or sent you home or sold you into slavery, something, anything rather than let him get his hands on you."

"Oh, stop!" Sookie was fully laughing now. "You're being silly. He's not really had his hands on me. Well, not much anyway. I mean, he did kiss me outside the spider exhibit."

"The spider exhibit? He took you to the aquarium to see the spiders?"

"Yes."

"Of course he did. He probably felt the need to be around his own kind."

"Pam! That's a terrible thing to say about your own brother!"

"Is it? Maybe I should introduce you to some of the women he's spun tight little webs around and then left them wondering what to do next when some new tasty morsel caught his eye."

Sookie felt herself recoiling from her friend. "I don't think I'd like that," she said weakly.

"Oh, Sookie, I'm so sorry." Pam hugged her friend and held her close. "I just don't want to see you hurt, that's all."

"He only took me to a park, Pam, in broad daylight. He didn't ask me to run away with him."

"Thank goodness," Pam sighed. "I'd hate to think about him asking more than the park from you."

But he had asked for more than the park, and that was all Sookie could think about.


	2. Chapter 2

**The Harder They Fall**

**Chapter 2**

Sookie stood beside the window in her bedroom and stared down at the pool house. There was only light coming from what Sookie assumed was the living room. And it didn't appear to be regular lighting. He had a fire going, or maybe a lot of candles, because the light was flickering.

She imagined sitting in front of a fire with Eric's arms around her. It was almost enough to make her not give anything a second thought and run out there no matter what might happen later. Almost, but not quite. She tried to think about Pam's warnings. She told herself she needed to be reasonable. She'd held onto her virginity all through high school despite the temptations of many hometown boys, and now she was considering offering it up to a Swedish man seven years older than her, with a terrible reputation and who frightened her with spiders on their first date? That made no sense at all. Surely she could talk herself out of it.

Of course, to be fair, he hadn't tried to take it like the boys from home had. He hadn't fumbled around trying to get into her clothes. He had only kissed her. Only kissed her? Only seemed like such a ridiculous word to associate with that kiss. He had taken her breath away, and she suspected, her heart right along with it. She knew that light-headed, dreamy feeling was waiting for her just outside.

That was it. She knew she could stand here all night or all week and argue with herself, but in the end she knew what her choice would be. She couldn't resist him and she didn't want too. With that decision out of the way, she was left with deciding what to wear.

A negligee would be too ridiculous, even if she had one. And she wasn't wearing any of the rather plain nightgowns she had with her. Besides, he didn't say he wanted to have sex with her or sleep with her. What if all he wanted to do was make out or have a drink with her? He'd die laughing if she showed up in her pajamas. Can't risk that.

She settled on a pretty lavender sundress with a halter top and rows of tiny yellow flowers around the hem of the full skirt. Easy on, easy off, easy access, oh my god, maybe it was too easy. But she wasn't taking the time to change clothes again. She might lose her nerve. She grabbed a knit shawl and threw it around her shoulders. It was cool at night and maybe it would help her not look quite so much like she was showing up at his door for what she was showing up at his door for. Good grief, she didn't even make sense to herself any more.

Her heart raced faster with each step she took. By the time she reached the pool house she was so nervous her heart felt like it would explode out of her chest any second and her teeth were chattering a mile a minute. She clutched her shawl together with one hand and knocked lightly on the door with the other.

When Eric opened the door, all she could do was gape at him. He was barefoot and wearing a loose gray T-shirt and a pair of sweat pants. It was completely unreasonable for him to be able to make that outfit sexy.

Eric smiled as he took in the sight of her standing there shivering as if it were the dead of winter. He took her hand and stepped inward. "You're trembling. Come, sit by the fire."

Sookie glanced around the room. Two large, deep sofas were in the center of the room surrounded by several huge pillowy cushions on the floor and a roaring fire in the center of a fireplace which ran almost the entire length of longest wall. Opposite the fireplace, to the right, was a wet bar with a kitchen beyond.

She stepped inside and Eric quickly shut the door behind her. "I won't lock it," he whispered. And when all she did was giggle slightly, he added, "In case you should decide you need to escape." He moved behind her and placed a hand on each side of her shawl. "May I?"

"No," she said, nervously clutching at the front of the shawl. She took a deep breath, swallowed and tried to get a grip on herself. "I mean, not right now, thank you."

He came back around to face her and placing a finger under her chin, he raised it up until she was facing him. "You're not being fed to the lions, Sookie. You don't have to stay, but if you do, you're safe here."

Why had he said that? He'd never said anything like that to anyone before. The only time a girl had been this nervous around him he'd found it irritating and told her to go on and leave. But for some reason Sookie wasn't irritating. He was charmed by everything about her.

"Would you like something to drink?"

"Do you have iced tea?" she asked.

"Iced tea? Well, I have tea and I have ice, so I suppose it could be arranged. I have beer, wine, an assortment of alcohol and lemonade. Pam said you liked lemonade."

"Did you tell Pam I was coming here?"

"I wasn't sure myself if you were coming here. I asked Pam to tell me about you. I believe she thought I would only be interested if she told me you only drank straight burbon and ate dry cereal with beer."

Sookie laughed and loosened up a bit. "I'm afraid I don't do either of those things."

"So, do you like lemonade or shall we see if I can make iced tea?"

"Lemonade will be fine."

"You can leave your shoes by the door. I'll get your drink." Eric went to the fridge and brought back a pitcher of lemonade. He sat it on the counter of the bar. He put a handful of ice into a glass and added lemonade until the glass was about two thirds full. Sookie was still only a few steps inside the front door when he rejoined her.

"I'm afraid you'll have to let go with at least one hand," he said, glancing at her shawl.

"Oh!" she almost choked on an embarrassed laugh. "Yeah, I guess I look kind of foolish standing here with this thing."

"You look lovely," he said as she pulled the shawl off her shoulders and draped it over an arm. He handed her the glass and took the shawl. "Allow me."

He motioned into the room. "Make yourself at home. I'll just put this in the closet."

He came back to the living room to find her standing in the middle of the room, in front of the fireplace now. Well, at least she was away from the door. Though she did still look as though she might bolt and run any minute.

"The fireplace is beautiful," she said with a shy smile.

"My mother designed it. She liked having a lot of brick indoors." He kicked a big cushion over so it was directly in front of the fire, then he plopped onto the floor, propping an elbow on the cushion. He reached up to her with his free hand. "Will you join me, Sookie?"

She took his hand and he guided her down, to sit on the cushion. Her teeth had finally stopped chattering, but her hands were picking up the slack. Their shaking was causing the ice in her glass to sound like she was ringing a set of chimes.

Eric leaned back and grabbed a leg of the coffee table and dragged it a little closer. Then he reached over for her glass. "Let's put that down before one of us ends up drenched in lemonade," he said with a teasing grin.

"I've never been in a man's house before," she said softly. "Alone, I mean."

He took her trembling hand in his and kissed it. "I'd be willing to wager there are a lot of places you've never been." He turned her hand over and kissed her palm before looking up into her eyes. "And a lot of things you've never done."

She could feel herself turning red. "You'd win both bets. Do you want me to go?"

"Why would I want you to go? I've only just gotten you within touching distance. Do you want to go?" He was kissing her wrist now.

"No," she said with a heavy sigh. "I want to be right here, with you."

"Looks like we both get what we want tonight." Placing a hand behind her neck, he gently pulled her onto her back on the cushion. He held her with his eyes as he reached a hand behind his back, grabbed a handful of his shirt and pulled it off, tossing it carelessly across the room.

Then he leaned and kissed her. Her physical reaction was immediate and overwhelming. She could feel her temperature rising at an alarming rate, so now coupled with the feeling of her heart exploding from beating so fast, was the feeling she might spontaneously combust.

"Breathe out," she heard him whisper in her ear. She did as she was told, but gasped in another gulp of air right away when his tongue touched her lobe. She felt his hand behind her neck as he slipped the neck strap of her dress under the back of her head, then his mouth briefly lost contact with her as he moved the strap over her face and down below her waist, exposing her breasts. "Beautiful," he murmured as his lips returned to hers.

Wave after wave of goosebumps covered her as his lips left hers and began moving down her neck. She could breathe again, sort of, she could gasp and heave anyway. It was like every nerve in her body was suddenly on the surface of her skin crying out for his touch.

His hands rand down the length of her arms until he was able to pull her hands off his back. She hadn't realized she had her fingernails digging mercilessly into his back. He held her hands as his mouth reached her breast and he covered her erect and hypersensitive nipple with his mouth and began to tease it with his tongue between whisper soft sucks.

"Oh my god!" she cried between heaving breaths. "I'm going to faint."

She heard him laugh softly. He rolled his tongue around her nipple, so his breath as he spoke caused new waves of goosebumps. "No you won't. I won't let you faint. Trust me"

"I trust –" Her words hung in her throat as his mouth switched its attention to her other breast.

He led her hands to the cushion, freeing his. He stroked her hair with one hand and found the side zipper of her dress with the other. "May we lose this?" he asked between alternating licks and kisses.

"Yes," she moaned, holding onto the cushion for dear life. Surely it wasn't possible to endure so much pleasure and live. She didn't know the half of it.

He unzipped the zipper and hooked a thumb in the side of her dress, catching her panties on the way down. He didn't toss her clothes, he sat them is a pile to the side, but within her reach.

"Are you ready?" he purred, releasing her nipple and sliding himself between her legs.

"For what?" she panted.

"To do things you've never done," he said, gripping her knees and pulling them up, thus pushing her back on the cushion so her head and shoulders were now on the floor behind it.

"Oh, yes," she said with half a giggle.

He held her knees wide apart and laid his head on her stomach. He paused for just a second, as if he was listening for something. Then he turned his face and his tongue began dancing in and out of her navel. It tickled and she started to laugh, but he quickly moved on.

Very slowly, he kissed one inner thigh, and then the other. With his hands at either side, above her hips and his arms positioned to hold her legs. "Hold on," he instructed.

Her body lurched the instant his tongue touched her swollen clit. She screamed his name with a voice she didn't even recognize as her own and her knuckles turned white as she clung desperately to the cushion.

His desire to please her was unlike anything he'd ever felt. She was a virgin, anything he did would be the best she'd ever had, but that wasn't enough. He teased with his tongue and sucked until she was on the verge of orgasm then backed away. It was different with this girl. He had to give her the experience of her life. His lips expertly massaged her to climax and her juices flowed as her body prepared to receive him. He stripped off his sweat pants as she lay quivering beneath him.

He kissed her breast again on his way back up her body, which was now glistening with a mist of salty, sweet perspiration. He loved the taste of her, her smell she was intoxicating, this perfect creature looking up at him with such contentment, yet anticipation. What was she doing to him?

He started to position himself to enter her, but changed his mind at the last second. His height wouldn't allow her to see his face this way. He wanted to be able to kiss her as she felt him entering her.

"What's wrong?" she asked weakly as he suddenly sat up and pulled her into his lap.

"I want to see your face," he said as he arranged her over him. "Sit slowly," he whispered.

She lowered herself and felt his erection below her. He was holding himself with one hand and guiding her hips with the other. She gasped and grabbed his shoulders as he penetrated. She could feel herself stretching to accommodate him. Surely she was crushing him. He felt so good, but it hurt at the same time. He wasn't going to fit, she was afraid to try to push any further.

"Shhh," he cooed. "You're alright, my beautiful lover. We'll go slowly." He kissed her and rocked his hips gently beneath her. She gasped again as he pushed a little further.

She discovered the more she took, the less it hurt and the better it felt. She wanted more.

Her deep, halting breaths as she forced herself to receive him were more of a turn on than any sound he'd ever heard and the feeling of being inside her was amazing. He curled his fingers in her hair and kissed her hard as his hips began to move, slowly at first, then picking up momentum as she arched her back and set about mirroring his movements. He wanted to fill her, to possess her, to be consumed by her. All the sex he'd ever had, had merely been practice, the prelude to this.

Her moans were building. She was going to climax again. This was spectacular. He seized her in a tight embrace, their bodies colliding as they gave and received all they had. When at last he released deep inside her, they were both completely spent. They collapsed on the cushion, still bound in each others arms.

Sookie could smell breakfast before she even opened her eyes. She was still on the living room floor, but she was covered with a wonderfully soft blanket. She stretched and yawned and seconds Eric was kneeling beside her with an enormous smile plastered across his face.

"I was beginning to worry you'd fallen into a coma after last night."

She could feel herself blush as she thought about last night. "No, I'm –" she shifted her weight and winced from the sudden dull pain.

Eric grabbed her arms as if to keep her from falling over. "I hurt you," he said, his voice rife with recrimination.

Sookie forced herself to smile and she reached up to touch his cheek. "No. You didn't hurt me. Just a little sore, that's all."

He accepted her response and returned her smile with a playful grin. "I could kiss it better."

"You probably could, but then your house would burn down," she laughed.

"My house would –"

"Your eggs are burning," she said sweetly.

"What?" he asked, as if she'd just announced she was the new Queen of Sweden.

She glanced to the kitchen. "Your eggs. They're burning."

"Huh?" Eric followed her glance to the kitchen. There was no billowing smoke yet, but he was finally paying enough attention to smell that his eggs were indeed beginning to burn. "The eggs!" he cried, as he jumped up and ran into the kitchen.

The ringing of her laughter followed him as he scraped the horribly overcooked eggs into the waste bin. What a lovely sound. He peeked around the bar, but she was gone.

He was started toward the door when he heard water running in the hall bathroom. How strange he should feel such relief she hadn't left. Usually the high point of his morning was when his date of the night before got up to leave and he heard the front door closing behind them. And it was even better when they left in the night. He had always slept better alone. Yet somehow this morning …

He smiled happily to himself as he returned to the kitchen and prepared to start over with new eggs.

He heard the bathroom door just as his eggs were ready. He slid them onto a plate and headed around the bar to meet Sookie. She was headed for her shoes. He grabbed her hand and brought it to his lips. "How do you like your eggs?"

What a gorgeous smile he had. "I don't think I've ever tasted an egg I didn't like," she said brightly. "Of course I've never tried to eat burned eggs."

His smile faded. "The offending eggs have been removed to the waste bin, milady, never to be seen again. I beg you allow me a second chance to impress you."

"I'm not sure how you could impress me any more than you already have," she almost whispered with her cheeks flushing crimson.

"Let me try," he said into her hand. "Please."

"It's nearly noon," she protested gently. "Pam will be up soon and I need to take a shower. I think we're supposed to be meeting someone for lunch in a little while, but I can't remember who it is. Some people we're supposed to go out with tonight, I think."

"Tonight?" he questioned, a tiny tinge of something unfamiliar in his tone. What? Anger? Jealousy perhaps? "You have a date tonight? You have to cancel it."

"Do I?" she asked. "Why is that?"

"Well, because I, umm, because we –" He was stammering. This was too ridiculous. She was a witch, that's what she was. Clearly he was under some sort of spell. "Because you haven't given me the opportunity to ask you out tonight."

"It isn't a proper date," Sookie said with a flirty grin. "I think it's just a group of people going out to party. I believe we're supposed to leave around six. I'm sure Pam wouldn't mind if you joined us."

Eric chuckled and said, "I'm sure you're mistaken. I imagine Pam will mind very much. But I won't let that keep me away." He leaned and kissed her cheek. "Until tonight," he whispered.

He stared after her as she walked up to the back door of the main house. She wasn't the only one who had a first time experience to remember. He had just literally begged a woman to stay with him. And as if that wasn't enough, she'd left anyway. His whole world had changed.

~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~

Well, Eric had been right about one thing. Pam was definitely not happy about him joining their group. She had been staring daggers at him all night. And every time he caught her, he laughed, which made it worse.

Pam was furious with him for taking advantage of her houseguest. Sookie told Pam over and over it was her choice. She had gone to the pool house of her own free will. He didn't come up to the main house and drag her off kicking and screaming.

But Pam wasn't having any part of it. "That's what he's best at," she had said. "Convincing women to do whatever he wants and making them think it's all their idea. He's a snake!"

"I thought you said he was a spider," Sookie had remarked, trying to lighten the mood, but it hadn't worked. In the end, Pam had reluctantly agreed to be polite, but only because Sookie had invited him. And only if Sookie swore she would come home with her at the end of the night.

As it turned out, Pam's definition of being polite was something just short of refraining from ripping his lungs out with her bare hands. But the evening hadn't been a total loss s far. Eric was a fabulous dancer and as long as she kept him and Pam apart, she could have a really good time.

They danced and drank and he kissed her every chance he got. Deep, wet kisses that made her wish they were alone. Alas, they weren't alone. And just as they came laughing off the dance floor and got to their table, Sookie heard a new voice join their party.

"So look who has a new toy," came a high-pitched woman's voice. It was very close and dripping with sarcasm. "A little young, isn't she? Have you run through all the grown women in the country?"

Sookie turned to find a pretty, dark haired young woman about Eric's age, probably at least twenty-three, glaring at her in an almost predatory way. Eric clearly knew her and he didn't appear happy to see her.

"I think you've had too much to drink, Aude," he said to her and he took a step toward the table, so he was standing between the two women.

"Oh, I haven't had near enough to drink tonight," she spat back at him. "Not if I'm going to be expected to watch you make some sickening display if seducing a little girl. So beneath a man of your many talents."

Wow, Sookie thought. He more than knew her. Obviously she was an ex-girlfriend. And from the sound of her, she wasn't happy about being an ex and she wasn't happy about Sookie breathing.

His mind was racing. Of course he'd been in situations when two or even more of his former flings had been in the same room, but always before it had been rather entertaining, a boost to his ego. For some reason this was a nightmare of epic proportions. What could he say?

"If you must know, I'm here with a group of my sister's friends." He pointed out where Pam was dancing, as if her being on the dance floor validated his story. "Sookie is visiting Pam from America."

Sookie was stunned. She felt her lower jaw go slack. He'd just told this vile creature she was nothing more than a visiting friend of his little sister. Her chest began to tighten. She was going to cry. No! Oh god, please don't let me cry, she prayed silently.

"I think maybe you should have told her she was only your sister's little friend," Aude purred with a satisfied smirk.

At that moment, Pam suddenly appeared at Sookie's side. "There you are!" Pam shouted over the music as she wrapped an arm around her friend. "We've decided to go over to Ginger's house for pancakes and ham."

Pam was pulling her away and Sookie was allowing herself to be led. This wasn't possible. Only five minutes ago, Eric had been smiling at her and acting as if he never wanted to look at another woman again. What was happening? She didn't understand.

"Have fun," Pam sneered at Eric and Aude as she guided Sookie away.

"Oh, I am," Aude said with a smile.

"Who was that woman?" Sookie asked as they got closer to the door.

Pam waved at her other friends to join them. "She's Eric's ex. She's like a female version of him. They never could decide whether they liked fighting or screwing more. Finally they broke up before they killed each other. They deserve one another if you ask me."

Sookie's cell phone began ringing as they reached the front door of the club.

"Ignore it," Pam told her, reaching to open the door.

"No, it's home. I need to get it," Sookie said. "Let's get outside so I can hear."

They got outside and Sookie took a few steps away from the door before answering her phone. Her eyes widened and she seemed to lose all color as she listened to whoever was on the other end.

When at last she spoke, it was only a weak, "What?"

Pam's friends came careening out of the club and into the cool night air just as Pam screamed Sookie's name.

Sookie had fainted on the sidewalk.

xxxx

Author's notes ...

A special thanks to the following for their help with cultural questions about Sweden ... KLloyd ... Thyra10 ... and KamikaziParrot ... even though I ultimately asked for a lot more information than I ultimately used, the generosity they showed with their time made me much more comfortable in being able to write what I wanted.

Also ... anyone who wants to have their funny bone tickled should head on over to the Dead Pan Contest ... a paradise of parodies await you ... I have an entry there, but it's an anonymous contest, so I can't tell you which one it is! LOL Just follow the link ...

www (dot) fanfiction (dot) net/u/2231715/Dead_Pan_Contest


	3. Chapter 3

**The Harder They Fall**

**Chapter 3**

**.  
**

Eric stared helplessly after Sookie as Pam led her out of the club. His feelings were so conflicted they held him cemented in place. All he could do was watch as the woman he suspected he was falling in love with, took comfort from the pain he was causing her in the arms of his sister.

Eric slammed back his drink, grabbed a passing waitress and ordered another. "Make that two," he said angrily. "And make them doubles."

"How sweet of you to order drinks for me too," Aude cooed.

"I didn't. You've had enough to drink. I'm catching up."

"Well at least you're coming to your senses. A little girl like that might amuse you for a while, in a simple 'oh, isn't she cute' sort of way. But Eric, I know you, better than you know yourself sometimes, she could never keep you satisfied for long. You need a woman, a grown woman."

Eric glared at her and snatched her drink. He drank what was left in her glass in one gulp. "What do you know about what I need?" he scoffed.

"Don't you remember how it was when I was your woman?" Aude whispered seductively as she ran her hand across the front of his jeans.

The waitress sat his drinks on the table and waited to be paid. He took some money from his pocket and tossed it onto her tray. When she had gone he gulped down one drink and looked at Aude. "You were never my woman, Aude. You were my Harpie from hell. Now you're only an embarrassing part of my past. If you'll excuse me I have someplace to go."

Eric reached for his other drink and Aude slapped it from the table. "How dare you speak to me like that!" she shrieked.

"Good bye, Aude," he said as he turned to leave.

"You're going to chase after her? For god's sake, you're Eric Northman and she's … she's …" Aude couldn't think of anything distasteful enough to complete her sentence.

"She's my future," he said, and he was gone.

When he got outside, Ginger and Pam's other friends were about to come back into the club.

"Where are Sookie and Pam?" he demanded.

"You missed all the excitement!" Ginger giggled. "We came out and Sookie was passed out cold on the sidewalk. We helped Pm get her to the car."

"She couldn't have been passed out. She'd only had two drinks."

"Then I guess she can't hold her liquor, my friend," Ginger said, giving Eric a slap on the chest on her way back into the club.

"Where did they go?" he called after them.

"Don't know," someone answered.

Eric stood on the sidewalk and considered his options. Pam had taken the car, so the subway it was. If Sookie had passed out, Pam would take her to the house. He headed home.

When he got home, Pam's car wasn't there. He tried calling her cell, but no answer. Maybe she got stuck in traffic, he thought. Of course it was three in the morning now, so traffic was unlikely to be an issue. He started to get in his car but before he reached the garage he realized he didn't have any idea where he'd go.

He went inside and poured himself a drink before beginning a routine of pacing across the room and occasionally pulling the drapes back to look outside. He wasn't sure exactly what he was looking for, but whatever it was, he didn't want to miss it. Eventually he simply opened the drapes so he had a constant outside view.

As each minute ticked past he became more and more convinced Pam had wrecked the car before getting home. He poured another drink and sat down to call hospitals looking for them.

Eric woke to a crick in his neck from falling asleep on the sofa and the smell of someone cooking in the kitchen. When he stood up, a headache was added to the mix.

He staggered into the kitchen and found Pam standing at the stove making pancakes.

"When did you finally get home last night?" he asked as he reached for a cup. "I got so worried I was calling hospitals."

Pam didn't answer. He poured himself some coffee and pulled a barstool over to the center island, where Pam was putting the food as she finished it. He spread some jam over a pancake and rolled it up. As he took a huge bite, he noticed a plate of ham next to the stove. "Hey, will you pass me that ham?" he asked with a mouthful of pancake.

Pam picked up the plate, turned around and hurled it at him.

"What the hell?!" he yelled as he blocked his face with his arms just in time to avoid being hit with the plate, which was now in pieces on the floor along with all but one slice of ham, which was in his lap. He took the ham from his lap and put it on his plate. "I'm not cleaning up broken dishes after you too! What's wrong with you?"

Pam was clearly livid. Her knuckles were white on the hand gripping a large spatula and her entire body was shaking. "What's wrong with ME?" she growled through gritted teeth. "What's wrong with YOU, you brute? I begged her not to walk into your web! I tried to tell her what a miscreant you are.

But oh, hell no! You sucked her in, didn't you? Ohhh, let me do a striptease and clean up after you and walk you to your room. Let me scare you with spiders then kiss it all better. Let me seduce your virginity away from you then leave you standing in the middle of a club with a stupid look on your face when my ex slithers into the picture.

I could kill you, you bastard."

Eric sat there and tried to make his pounding head absorb everything Pam was saying. "I didn't leave her standing," he protested weakly. "You came and took her."

Pam's eyes filled with rage and tightening her grip on her spatula, she lunged at him.

Eric jumped up, caught her around the shoulders and held her tight to limit her arm movement and prevent her from whacking him with the spatula.

Since she couldn't move her arms, she kicked him in the shin. He immediately let go and doubled over to grab his hurt leg. "You're insane!"

"I hate you, Eric Northman!" she screamed.

As she began hitting him with the spatula, he blocked her blows with his arms and tried to back away, but she kept after him, screaming and wildly swinging at him.

"You're a monster! And now her parents are dead and I'll never be able to speak to her again because any time she thinks of us she'll think of what a nightmare it was for her here."

Pam stopped hitting and stared at Eric, her eyes now red and over run with tears. Her rage had been replaced with heartbreak and sadness. "I'll never forgive you, Eric, never." She collapsed into a heap on the floor and sobbed.

Eric put his hand on Pam's shoulder and pushed her around so he could see her. She didn't look up at him. "You said, 'and now her parents are dead'."

In between sobs, Pam stammered, "Before I even got her outside, her phone was ringing. It was her grandmother calling to say her parents had been killed in a car accident. A flash flood, she called it."

"And you left her alone, upstairs?" Eric asked, his tone verging on accusation.

Now Pam looked up. "What?"

Eric took two steps toward the other side of the kitchen, as if he was headed upstairs, but he was stopped by all the food on the island. There was ham, well, most of the ham was on the floor, but still, and sausages, fresh baked muffins and more pancakes than a small army could eat in one sitting.

Pam was an excellent cook, but it wasn't something she particularly cared for doing … unless she was very upset. She said cooking helped her stay sane when she was upset.

"There's an awful lot of food here, Pam," he said quietly.

"Clever of you to notice, my idiot friend. Good thing for you, you don't look quite as stupid as you are or you'd never get laid," Pam snarled, dripping acid from every word.

Eric's mind was spinning out of control and his eyes were losing focus. He looked in Pam's general direction. "She isn't upstairs, is she?"

"Brilliant deduction, Watson!"

Eric leaned on the island for support. "Damn it, Pam! Be serious. Where is she?"

"Her parents are dead, Eric. She went home, of course. I drove her to Arlanda and waited with her. She left on the seven-ten flight."

"But her things, you didn't come back here. I tried to call you but you didn't have your phone on and I didn't know Sookie's number and –" Eric's other hand went to the counter for balance. He felt suddenly sick. The spinning in his head had spread to the entire room. "But I need to speak to her. You didn't let me speak to her. I followed you out and you were gone! Ginger said she passed out."

"She didn't pass out. She fainted when she got the news. She was already dazed by you and your sex kitten, then she got punched in the stomach with news like that. Well done, brother."

That was his limit. He leaned over the sink and retched.

"You deserve that," Pam said flatly when she heard him turn the water on in the sink.

"Get up," he said forcefully.

Pam looked up at him. "You planning to hit me?"

"No, but it would serve you right if I did. Get up and go pack a bag for a few days. We're leaving."

"What are you talking about?"

"Fine then, sit there, but I'm leaving in ten minutes. If you want to come with me, you'll hurry. If you're staying, I'll need you to write down her address and phone number for me." Eric reached down and helped Pam to her feet.

"But what about all this mess?" Pam asked.

"Leave it for the maid. Come on."

Eric's lifelong ability to charm the fates failed him utterly in his effort to get to Louisiana. He stood at the flight counter at Arlanda faced with no available seating on any flight with connections to the United States for over three hours. He finally booked the flight and sat down with Pam to wait. They passed the time with him asking every twenty minutes or so for Pam to repeat to him what had happened last night.

Their luck at London Heathrow wasn't any better. A lightning storm was delaying all flights. Pam kept trying to call Sookie, knowing full well she wouldn't get through. Sookie had dropped her phone when she fainted. The phone had been damaged and of course Sookie would have not had access to anyone to repair it yet.

Eric was nearly arrested for going into hysterics in the middle of JFK when he was told they'd missed their connecting flight due to the delay at Heathrow. There were no other flights to Louisiana tonight. They would have to wait until morning.

Eric harassed the ticket agents all night until a girl at the Delta counter told him there had been cancellation for two first class seats on a 6am flight to Atlanta. They would have a little over two hour layover in Atlanta before being able to catch a connecting flight to Shreveport, and they'd be in coach for the connecting flight, but they would get there just before noon, which would be about four hours sooner than the way they were currently booked. He arranged all the re-booking, then dragged Pam and her carry-on bag to the Delta terminal to wait the two hours for the flight.

Shreveport at last. Sookie's phone was still switching to voice mail the moment it connected. Pam left another message. Eric rented a car and got a map from the rental agent. He had her show him Bon Temps on the map and show him how best to get there.

Once in the car and on their way, Pam pulled out her laptop and made a quick run through the places she and Sookie usually hooked up online. No one online had seen her since she left for Sweden.

Pam found the obituary for Sookie's parents. "Eric," she said sadly. "The funeral was today. It started just a couple of hours ago. We've missed it."

"She was alone," he said, more of a reproach of himself than to Pam. Eric's fingers tightened around the steering wheel as he thought about how he'd failed her. He'd frozen like a fool when Aude came to their table and spewed her poison. And when he spoke, what did he say? She's Pam's friend.

And as a result of his idiocy, she'd been left alone to cope with her devastating loss. How could he have done this to her? To her, whom he was more certain with every passing minute he was in love with. He'd be lucky if she would even take the trouble to spit on him when he found her.

They pulled into a gas station at the Bon Temps exit. Eric sat in the car and stewed while Pam took the map and went inside for drinks and directions.

They pulled into the Bon Temps Gardens cemetery and parked near the small office building. They went in the very somber office, its walls lined

with rows of samples of varying colors of marble and granite beside large photos of grave markers. Standing on a long table separating the room in two were several flipcard books showing different adornments and additions you could purchase for your loved one's marker. A gruesome business, death.

"Welcome to Bon Temps Gardens," the professionally dressed middle aged woman said in a voice which would be appropriate for reading bedtime stories to children. "I'm Mary Hubbard. How may I be of service to you today?"

"We're looking for the Stackhouse funeral," Pam said.

"Ah, I'm afraid that service had ended and I believe everyone has gone by now." Mary Hubbard stepped to an east-facing window and looked out. "Oh, wait. It looks like there's one person still over there. I can't tell for sure, but I think it might be Sookie Stackhouse sitting there. Poor thing, she was on a trip to Europe when the accident happened –"

Mary was stopped by the sound of the door opening and closing. Pam was still standing there, but Eric had bolted as soon as Mary said she thought it was Sookie sitting out there alone.

"Thank you, Ms. Hubbard, you've been very helpful," Pam said with a courteous smile. "Would you be terribly inconvenienced if I sat here to wait for my brother? Of course, I will see myself out if a patron should come in before he returns."

"Please, you are quite welcome to sit," Mary said with a smile.

Pam perched herself delicately in a high-backed chair with a view through the window where Mary had seen Sookie. Eric was walking up behind her now. She hadn't turned around.

Eric ran from the small office building until he was within only a few feet of the large green tentlike canopy. He walked slowly up the short aisle of folding chairs. As he got closer to her, he could hear her soft, erratic sobs. Just as he'd feared, she was alone and in pain.

"Can I have a few more minutes, please?" she asked without turning. Clearly it wasn't the first time she'd asked.

"As long as you need," he whispered.

"Momma! " she cried and dropped to her knees on the ground and hugged her stomach. "Why does it have to hurt so much? Even now, even with you gone, I can hear his voice, just like he was standing right here." She was on all fours and sobbing uncontrollably now. Huge, gulping, choking sobs.

Eric knelt behind her and put a hand on her shoulder. "Shh, Sookie, it's alright." It was killing him to see her in so much pain. But what could he say? How could mere words make anything better for her right now?

Sookie screamed, a baleful wail, which barely sounded human. She cringed away from Eric's touch. "Whoever you are, leave me alone! And don't say anything else. I can't stand it. You sound too much like, like –"

"Who do I sound like, my lover?" he said softly, reaching out and pulling her to him.

Sookie turned and looked at him as if she was seeing an apparition. She lifted her trembling hand to touch his face, but stopped a couple of inches short. "But you don't want me," she stammered.

"I've never wanted anyone or anything as much as I want you," he said, looking directly into her eyes and brushing her hair back from her tear streaked face.

"Eric," she said, touching his face as if she feared it might disappear when she made contact. "You're really here."

"I'm here," he said and he kissed her forehead. "I'm late, but I'm here." His lips brushed against hers once before moving to her cheek to trace the lines of her tears with kisses. He held her closer as the taste of her tears both reprimanded him for his mistakes and reminded him of her closeness. "I'm so sorry, Sookie. Please let me explain."

She shook loose and looked up at him. "It doesn't matter. You're here now."

"It matters to me. It matters I hurt you. It matters I never want to see you hurt again. I don't know why I didn't speak up sooner at the club. It was unforgivable of me to let her speak to you like that. I told her I didn't want her. She mocked me for chasing after you and I didn't care. I only knew I wanted you. I needed you. I loved you."

Sookie gasped and her eyes welled up again.

"Oh, no love. Please don't cry. Shhh." He pulled her back to his chest and buried his face in her hair.

"I'm ruining your shirt," she sniffled.

He laughed softly and let of her long enough to unbutton and remove his dress shirt. He handed it to her with a flourish. "Your handkerchief, milady."

"How gross! I can't do that."

"It's less gross than the alternative. I have no tissue."

"Eric, I can't keep staining all your shirts."

"You can if you're with me. If I promise to wear a different shirt every day will you promise to stain them every day? Until we have no more tomorrows?"

"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard," she laughed.

"There's the smile I love. Come on. Let's go now. Let me take you home." Eric stood up and pulled her along with him. Sookie looked back to the freshly covered graves. He cupped her face gently in his hands. "They're alright, Sookie. They loved you and they would want you to take care of yourself." He kissed her, more passionately than he had intended. He stopped abruptly and smiled at her. "Come on, Pam's waiting to see you."

"Pam came with you?" Sookie asked with something close to enthusiasm.

"Someone had to hold the map," he said with a grin.

When they arrived at the house, Sookie stood on the porch with the keys in her hand and began shaking. "I just realized I haven't been back here. I came to Gran's house when I got back."

"Let me," Eric said, taking the keys from her. He opened the door and with an arm securely around her shoulders, he led Sookie into the house.

Sookie began to cry again the moment they entered. Eric handed Pam the keys and scooped Sookie up in his arms. "Which way to your room?"

Sookie pointed down the hall and directed Eric to her room. He placed her on her back in the center of the bed, removed her shoes and put them in the closet. He slipped his own shoes off beside the bed and crawled in beside her.

He cradled her in his arms and hummed softly as she clung to him and cried. It had been so long since she'd had a really good cry while someone held her. She'd been twelve and she'd spent a long time fixing her hair one morning. But she hadn't know what she was doing and her hairdo had fallen to pieces well before lunch time and several of the girls in her class has teased her unmercifully. She had burst into tears and run all the way home. Her mother had been on the front porch swing and she'd called Sookie to come sit with her. They had sat there in the swing for nearly an hour, Sookie crying and mamma holding her.

She shifted in Eric's embrace, closed her eyes and smiled. When she opened them again she glanced around and she could see her entire life surrounding her. Stuffed animals she'd had since she was little and some not so long. The picture of the lake she'd painted in the sixth grade when she was sure she'd be the next Van Gogh hung in the frame Jason had made for her in wood shop.

"I grew up in this room," she said as she snuggled closer to Eric. "I made all my plans and dreamed all my dreams here."

"Tell me what you dreamed." he asked as he drew random shapes on her arm with his finger.

"I first dreamed of you here," she said with a giggle.

"Did Pam email you pictures? I'm sure she didn't say anything to tempt you to dream about me"

"Oh no, it was way before I ever talked to Pam. I was thirteen and I had just seen The Princess Bride for the first time. For weeks I would come to this room at night and pretend I was Buttercup. I would pull my rocking chair to the edge of the window and I would sit there with my knees drawn up and stare into the night, waiting for my Westley to come for me.

Eric leaned to whisper in your ear. "Hear this now: I will always come for you."

Sookie faced him with a huge smile. "You know The Princess Bride!"

"Wrong line, Buttercup."

"Oh, right." She straightened herself and took on a far away tone. "But how can you be sure?" She held her breath, waiting to hear the words she'd waited since she was thirteen to hear.

With a hand behind her head, he spoke. "This is true love – you think this happens every day?"

Before she realized what had happened his mouth was on hers and she was returning his kisses. Her Westley had come at last.

Pam knocked once and entered with no further warning. "I knew I couldn't trust you two with the door closed," she said with a laugh. "Are you in bed for the night?"

"Actually, I'm kind of hungry. Sorry I didn't offer y'all anything to eat. Mamma would scold me something terrible for being a bad hostess."

"I'm sure she'd forgive you today," Pam said with a smile.

"Besides," Eric said, propping himself up on his elbow, "we didn't come for your food."

"No, you came thousands of miles to make out, right?" Sookie chuckled.

"Wrong," he answered, taking her chin between his thumb and forefinger. "I came for you. Come home, Sookie, to Sweden, to me."

"But this is my home. It's my –"

"Your what? I love you, Sookie and I know you love me too. I can feel it."

Sookie seemed stunned, so Eric turned to Pam for support. "Tell her, Pam." Sookie looked up at Pam.

"I believe he means it, Sookie," Pam said with a sincere smile. "And I know I do. I'd love nothing more than for you to come home with us."

"It isn't really my house any more. It will go to Jason. I'd have to go live with Gran."

Eric's gaze fell to the blanket beneath them. "Don't come to avoid moving in with your grandmother," he almost mumbled.

"Hey," she whispered, touching his cheek and coaxing him to meet her eyes. "How about if I come because when that plane left Sweden I felt a part of me being ripped away and left behind. A part I didn't think I'd ever get back. The part I left with you."

She kissed him softly on the lips. "I love you, Eric. Let's go home."


End file.
